Pulsar
PSR J0101-6422
Millisecond pulsar · binary system
A millisecond pulsar spinning 389 times per second: an old neutron star spun up again (“recycled”) by matter transferred from a companion. It shares a 1.788 days orbit with a helium white dwarf. Period, spin-down, distance and orbit come from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue; the beam geometry is illustrative.
| Type | Pulsar |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Tucana |
| Period | 2.573 ms (389 Hz) |
| Period derivative | 5.2×10⁻²¹ s/s |
| Characteristic age | 7.9 billion years |
| Magnetic field | 1.2×10⁸ G |
| Spin-down luminosity | 1.2×10³⁴ erg/s |
| Dispersion measure | 11.9 pc/cm³ |
| Distance | 1,001 pc (3.3 thousand ly) |
| Companion | helium white dwarf (estimated), ~0.18 M☉ |
| Orbital period | 1.788 days |
| Discovery | 2012 · FermiAssoc |
| Source | ATNF Pulsar Catalogue |
| Right ascension (J2000) | 1h 01m 11.1s |
| Declination (J2000) | −64° 22′ 30″ |
In the sky
Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 26° N. South of latitude 26° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in October, the best time to observe it.
Through a telescope from Earth
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around 1240 BC. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 58 million years.